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Welcome to my series of Using Tarot in Writing based on Jenna Reynolds’ Tarot spreads. If you’re just joining the series, you may want to catch up on the earlier installments before continuing with this one.
Part one, Introduction
Part two, Plotting and Brainstorming
Part three, Character Circle

Part 4, Three Aspects of Character Creation

There is a first time for everything and today that is this spread. I’m using my Angel Tarot Deck this time to mix things up a bit. Give the deck a nice shuffle. Cut the deck. Deal the deck. And…

Based on Jenna Reynolds’ 3 Aspects of Character Creation Sheet

I think you can see why I recommend using a deck with images on all the cards. I’m going to be referencing the little booklet that came with the deck, Tarot for Writers, and Raven’s Tarot Site to help with this reading.

Now, that’s a lot to look at all at once, let’s break it down by row.

Row One of the 3 Aspects of Character Creation Spread

Row One — The Character’s Physiology

  • Gender: 10 of Wands. Okay, maybe my mind is in the gutter but those wands kinda look like…aw-hm…phalli. I’m gonna say our character is a male.
  • Age: Page of Cups. A page to me is a young man. So I think our character is in his early to mid twenties.
  • Body Type: Knight of Cups. I’ll say our young man has an athletic build. After all knights must be physically fit, right?
  • Hair/Eye/Skin Color: 7 of Pentacles. Yikes! Let’s see, yellow is the dominate color to me, our guy has blond hair. Green is the secondary color that stands out to me, so green eyes. Pentacles are earthy and correspond to diamonds in a regular deck, which is generally connected to money (Tarot for Writers). I’m going out on a limb here and will say our guy works inside but plays outside thus sports a light tan.
  • Notable Aspects: The Magician. Our guy has an oval face with a cleft chin, his eyes seem too big for his face, he wears his hair long yet covers it with hats in an attempt to control it, and often dresses in mismatched colors.  (Hmm, perhaps he’s color blind.)
  • Health: 6 of Pentacles. The drive behind the 6 of Pentacles is ‘overcome of crisis and success’ (Raven’s Tarot Site) so I’m going to say our guy is recovering from an illness.

Row Two of the 3 Aspects of Character Creation

Row Two — The Character’s Sociology

  • Social Class: Ace of Wands. ‘Inheritance’ is one of the keywords in the booklet that came with the deck so I’m saying our guy just came into some money that comfortably moved him into upper middle class.
  • Occupation: 5 of Wands. This is a tough one. Most sources indicate ‘struggle’ and/or ‘conflict’ with this card. Perhaps our guy lost his job due to his illness. Or, perhaps, he’s a day trader (Tarot for Writers).
  • Education: King of Pentacles. The image reminds me of someone graduating from university, maybe a bachelor’s degree. ‘Wise investments’ is a keyword phrase in the booklet that came with the deck and that kind of goes with the day trader idea. So let’s say our guys has a Bachelor of Arts in Finance degree.
  • Religion: 4 of Cups. There’s not much imagery on the card but what there is makes me think the Jewish religion and/or the Old Testament. ‘Emotional riches’ and ‘stability of feelings’ are keywords (Raven’s Tarot Site). Stepping out on that limb again, I’m going to say our guy is comfortable within his Jewish background but not overly religious, only going to Synagogue for holidays.
  • Politics: 9 of Wands. Oh, boy. I don’t do politics, just not interested in that can of worms. Our guy is young so I’m going to say he’s not registered with any political party but he supports a number of causes.
  • Amusements: 8 of Cups. Cups, he likes to go out and party. Hearts, he’s a bit of a player, he likes to wine and dine the ladies.

Row Three of the 3 Aspects of Character Creation Spread

Row Three — The Character’s Psychology

  • Personality Type: Knights of Wands. I’m taking this straight from Tarot for Writers — He’s witty, flirtatious, and romantic. He can also be fierce, short-tempered, impulsive, and impetuous.
  • Attitude Toward Life: The Chariot. He has a can-do attitude.
  • Abilities: 10 of Pentacles. Most sources list ‘prosperity’ as a keyword. So our guy is good with money, time-management, and maintaining a balance between his professional and personal lives.
  • Qualities: 9 of Pentacles. He has a knack for being in the right place at the right time (Tarot for Writers), loves animals and nature (booklet), he knows his limitations (Tarot for Writers), and he’s a ‘glass half full’ guy (Raven’s Tarot Site).
  • Temperament: 2 of Cups. Most sources show this as a relationship card; love, friendship, marriage, partnership, etc. Our guy is friendly and out-going.
  • Personal Motto: 7 of Swords. Wow, this one’s hard. Most sources talk about theft and defeat and trickery. Ugh, not good motto stuff. However, the little booklet that came with the deck is more up-lifting (new plans, wishes, fortitude, perseverance, attempt, endeavor, hope, confidence, fantasy, design). Our guy’s motto is — “What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” (Goethe)

Okay, that was fun, more fun than I expected. I went through this as you would, recording my impressions as I went, looking up where I needed more info than I could glean from the card itself. In real time it took about two hours with wee beastie interruptions. I suspect it would have gone a bit faster with a deck that had images on all the cards vs. this one that only has images on the Major Arcana and court cards.

Anybody want to give this dude a name and write his story?

There’s been some interest in a Q&A and/or Tarot 101 post. What I’ll do is gather up all the questions y’all note in the comments on any of the Tarot posts and write up a post at the end of the series. Thank you for the interest and support of this series.